Summer Afternoons
by meruhen
Summary: Yukimura finds a way to cool himself off and tease those close to him.


**Title:** Summer Afternoons  
**Fandom:** Prince of Tennis  
**Character(s) or Pairing:** Yukimura, Yanagi, Sanada; Yanagi/Yukimura  
**Rating:** PG-13, just to be safe  
**Warnings:** Clichéd idea?  
**Word Count:** 1100  
**Summary:** Yukimura finds a way to cool himself off and tease those close to him.  
A/N: Asked for a prompt and was given "Popsicles". So cheese and triteness abound.

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Yukimura reached for the popsicle Sanada handed to him, ripping open the wrapper with little patience. He was hot and worn out from the game he had just played, and an ice cold popsicle appealed more than anything

Next to him, Yanagi shifted, murmuring something about the lack of electrolytes the popsicle had, but Yukimura ignored him. He even ignored Sanada, as the other boy sat on the opposite side of him on the concentrate bleacher the three of them had claimed. He focused on the popsicle, instead, crumbling the wrapper and setting it down next to him, to be thrown away later, and brought the chilly mixture of water, sugar, and artificial flavoring to his lips.

Carefully he wrapped his lips around it and sucked, drawing his tongue across the snack, and felt, rather than heard Yanagi's in-drawn breath. It didn't take him but a moment to figure out what it was doing to his friend-who-was-more-than-that; there was no lack of knowledge in Yukimura's mind, no innocence at his actions. Teasing hadn't been his intention when he asked Sanada for a popsicle when the other boy inquired if he wanted anything, but now, he could think of doing nothing else but that.

Getting a reaction from Yanagi was always fun.

"This is really good, Sanada," Yukimura said, his voice soft, pulling the popsicle away from his mouth for a moment. "Thank you."

Sanada looked at him and nodded once. "You're welcome," he told his former captain and current teammate who he was sure would once again be captain before their high school careers were over, and then averted his eyes as Yukimura brought the popsicle to his lips once again. But it was a moot point, because Yukimura was already turning his attention to Yanagi.

"It is really good. Do you want to try, Renji?" Yukimura asked, flicking his tongue across the top of the treat, holding it out to the boy he was talking. Yanagi's eyes were closed, like always, but Yukimura knew that he had all of Yanagi's attention.

After a moment of silence, just as Yanagi opened his mouth to reply, Yukimura pulled it back. "No? Oh well, I'll have to finish it then." And proceeded to raise it to his mouth, sucking on it. Yukimura could feel Yanagi's gaze on him; next to him, Sanada shifted uncomfortably, then stood up and walked back to the court a few steps away.

It was proving hard to keep back his laughter, but he managed, just barely, closing his eyes to hide the amusement he knew sparkled in their depths. He had managed to make Sanada uncomfortable, and Yanagi was watching with bated breath. The afternoon was proving to be a lot better than what he had expected it to be. He had been faced with a day too hot to play more than a game of tennis in the morning and maybe one in the evening – that was, if they were lucky and it cooled down before it got to be too dark to see or the public courts closed. The hot days of the summer months, during those few weeks they had off from school, always made him miss the Rikkai campus and its indoor courts and gym.

But this was just as much fun, in an entirely different way, as the game of tennis he'd just played, teasing Yanagi and having gotten to Sanada and – Yukimura glanced around there, opening his eyes to look and see if anyone else was staring, spotting a few eyes, wide and glazed over. But no one else was important, besides getting to Sanada and making Yanagi focus only on him, and Yukimura shifted his attention back to the popsicle he was sucking on and the boy sitting next to him.

The popsicle was melting, Yukimura realized, and some of it had dripped down onto his hand. Pulling his mouth away from the diminishing treat, he slowly licked up the sticky mess on the back of his hand, making sure Yanagi could see his tongue sweeping up the liquid.

"Are you sure you don't want to try?" Yukimura asked again, holding it up. "It's cherry."

"I wouldn't want to take any of your pleasure away," Yanagi commented, dipping his head so his hair fell over his eyes, and Yukimura chuckled.

"Oh, you wouldn't be, Renji. I think I'd enjoy it even more if you did have some of it," he commented, raising it to the other boy's lips. "Try it. For me?"

"Anything for you," Yanagi murmured, barely above a whisper and dragged his tongue up the side of the popsicle.

"Thank you, Renji," Yukimura said, and brought the popsicle back to his mouth, licking the spot Yanagi had and then wrapping his lips around it. "Isn't it tasty?" he asked.

Yanagi had focused on his lips again and only barely nodded, his throat suddenly dry. Yukimura saw his hands twitch and shift, instinctively reaching out and the boy chuckled around his popsicle. "Do you want your own?"

Flushing, Yanagi pulled his hands back, which almost made Yukimura want to pout. He'd almost forgotten they were in a public setting; to him the rest of the people at the courts that afternoon had already disappeared, unimportant to his plans. But when Yanagi nodded, folding his hands in his lap, Yukimura's grin appeared again.

"I can have Sanada get you one," he teased, leaning in closer to whisper into Yanagi's ear.

"I do not think Sanada can get me exactly what I wish for," Yanagi commented, keeping his voice low.

"Oh, but I thought you wanted a popsicle," Yukimura said. "Perhaps you'd like to finish mine."

The icy treat was almost gone, but there was still enough left around the stick that Yukimura could justify bringing it to Yanagi's lips once again, and watch as Yanagi bit down on it, taking a bite of the frozen mess.

"Tsk tsk, Renji," Yukimura said. "You don't bite, you lick. Savor every bit of it."

"Like you were doing?" Yanagi asked, even though he obediently drew the popsicle into his mouth and sucked on it, enjoying the sweet taste of the popsicle.

"I want the last bite," Yukimura said, watching his friend proceed to almost finish it off.

"Too late," Yanagi said, and bite down on the remaining piece of ice left around the stick, only to watch Yukimura pull his hand back, discarding the stick, and replace it with his lips, a tongue battling his for that melting piece of ice.

"Oh it's not," Yukimura said, a smirk on his lips when he pulled back, swallowing the little piece he'd managed to get. "I win."


End file.
